Monday, Jul 19, 2010
(This item was originally published Sunday.)
By Hassan Hafidh
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
BAGHDAD (Dow Jones)--Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY) and Indonesia's Pertamina are in talks with Angolan parastatal Sonangol to partner it in developing Iraq's Qaiyarah and Najmah oil fields, a Sonangol executive said Sunday.
"We are meeting with them next month to discuss (a possible tie-up)," Jose Luis, Sonangol's Qaiyarah and Najamah asset manager, told Dow Jones Newswires on the sideline of an oil symposium in Baghdad, which is being held to discuss the best ways for the government to co-ordinate and implement the country's oil expansion plans.
Luis said that Sonangal will submit a plan for developing the two oil fields.
According to the plan, Sonangol would boost production from the two fields to 50,000 barrels a day in 2013, of which 20,000 barrels a day will come from Najmah and 30,000 barrels a day from Qaiyarah oil fields. Four to five rigs are needed to drill these wells, he said.
The two fields, each holding some 800 million barrels of proven oil reserves, are located near the volatile city of Mosul, 400 kilometers north of Baghdad.
The company will drill up to 40 wells in both fields next year, but this depends on the availability of rigs, Luis said. It will also start building camps this year, he added.
Two oil licensing auctions last year awarded 11 deals to international oil companies that promise to add nearly 10 million barrels a day of capacity to Iraq's existing 2.5 million barrels a day by 2017.
Sonangol was awarded the two fields last year. According to the 20-year contracts, the firm needs to boost production from the Qaiyarah and Najmah oil fields to 120,000 barrels a day and 110,000 barrels a day at a fee of $5 and $6 a barrel, respectively.
-By Hassan Hafidh; Dow Jones Newswires; + 962 799 831 831; hassan.hafidh@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
19-07-10 0353GMT
